Shoe-stitching machine.



w. J. DREY. SHOE STITDHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION PILBILDEO. 6, 1905.

1,010,877. 1 Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

M9793 Z0 y W% aywxmw M7,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILFRED J. DREY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOT? MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-STITCHING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Application flied December 6, 1905. Serial No. 290,581.

, Lynn, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Stitching Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact"descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to wake and use the same.-

The present invention relates to improvements in welt-channeling attachments for shoe-stitching machines.

In stitching the outer sole to the welt of a shoe it is frequently/the practice to make a channel or slit in the surface of the welt for the reception of the stitches and to thereafter ornament the welt by a series of impressions located uniformly irrespective of the length ofjhe stitches. This operation is commonly called fudge stitching.

The object of the present invention is to produce an-.improved machine upon which a shoe mav be stitched at a single opera tion and ibiscam buricd around the fore part only. \Vith this object in view the invention consists in the improved construe tions, combinations and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed. the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front clovation of the welt-grooving attachment together with so much of a shoe stitching machine as is. necessary to illustrate the mode of operation of the attachment; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the attachment. and Fig. 3 is a right-hand end view of the channeling knife.

The illustrated embodiment of the invcntion comprises a channeling knife 1 having a dove-tailed shank 2 fitted to slide in a corresponding groove 3 in the work support 4 of a shoe stitching machine of familiar type, the needle 5 and presser-foot 6 of the machine being shown in Fig. 1. The groove 3 has the general direction of the line of food but is inclined slightly downward so that when the channeling knife is moved to the right it is removed below the level of the surface of the welt resting on the work-support surface 7, so as to be .inoperative.

W'lien the knife is in the position shown in the drawings, in its left-hand position in the groove 3, it is in position to engage the welt and cut a channel. The knife shown is of such a form as to cut an inclined channel with a flap directed toward the inner mangin of the welt, but knives of other for" 5 may be used with equal facility.

The means for throwing the channeling knife into or out of operation comprise a hand-lever 8, fixed to a vertical stem 9 journaled on the frame of the machine and provided with a cranked'end 10 engaging the slotted end 11 of a sliding rod 12, which is guided in a sleeve 13 on the work support and connected with the shank 2 of the channeling knife by means of a forked arm 14 engaging a pin 15 on the shank 2.

In stitching a shoe with this attachment the operator first draws the hand-lever 8 forward so as to move the knife into inoperative position. and then stitches the shoe beginning at one side of the shank, moving the hand-lever back to throw the knife into operation as soon as the forepart of the shoe is reached. and throwing it out again on reaching the other side of the shank. After the shoe is stitched the channel is closed by the engagement of the channel flap with the inclined edge of the throat of the work support, and the stitches in the shank may then be pricked up and finished.

Owing to the character of the movement by which the knife is thrown into and out of operation it does not change its angle of presentation to the stock, but enters and leaves the welt neatly without tearing the stock or leaving a conspicuous mark at the end of the channel. As the knife moves in the general direction of feed when thrown into operation the drag of the work against it tends to keep it in operative position until thrown out by the operator, so that no retaining device is necessary. The act of throwing the channeling knife into or out of operation does not involve any interruption in the operation of the machine,

and shoes may he stitched with this device in the same time required for stitching them in the ordinary manner.

It is to be understood that the term channel, as used in the preceding description and in the following claims, is intended to include any incision in the welt inc to receive the stitches of the seam, whether the incision be in the form of a groove, or in the form of a slit which is arranged either perpendicularly or obliquely to the surface of the welt.

The invention, except in so far as defined in the claims, is not limited to the exact details of construction and operation set 'forth, but may be embodied in other forms broadly defined in the claims.

I claim 1. A shoe-stitching machine having, in combination with the stitching instrumentalities, a knife for cutting a channel in the eration, the said means operating to move the knife in the general 'direction of the feed when throwing it into operation, so that the drag of the work upon the knife tends to hold it in o erative position, sub stantially as described.

3. A shoe-stitching machine having, in combination with the stitchin instrumentalities, a work sup ort provlded with a downwardly inclined groove, a channeling knife with a shank uided in the groove, and means for moving the knife m the groove to throw it into or out of operation, substantially as described.

4. A shoe-stitching machine having, in combination with the stitchin talities, a work support, a kni e for cuttin a channel in the welt of a shoe, said wor support and knife having provision for supporting the latter on the former in a position to cut a channel in the welt in advance of the operation of the stitching instrumentalities 1nd for moving the knife out of operative position and against the direction of the feed in an inclined path, and means for operating the parts, substantially as described. 1

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WILFRED J. DREY.

Witnesses;

HORACE VAN EVEREN, FARNUM F. DORBEY.

instrumen- 

